The disclosure relates generally to an optical fiber network system, such as a passive optical network (PON) system, and more particularly to providing a subscriber or customer with access to a fiber optical network via a wireless bridge to or near a dwelling, home, office, or other building or location.
High definition video distribution and high speed internet data access have been driving the bandwidth demand of internet subscribers inside homes, offices, and other premises over the past years. Twisted pair and other copper based access technology have difficulty meeting the bandwidth requirement for a good quality of services. In contrast, optical fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the business or building (FTTB), fiber to the node (FTTN), fiber to the curb or cabinet (FTTC), and fiber to the premises (FTTP) systems, for example, provide a sustainable optical fiber-based solution to deliver high speed, high bandwidth services for data, voice, and video access. Today, many broadband access solutions are enabled by such FTTH/FTTB/FTTN/FTTC/FTTP, also known here as FTTX solutions, all over the world. In these FTTX solutions, optical fiber is installed from a central point directly to individual buildings such as residences, apartment buildings, and businesses to provide unprecedented high-speed Internet access. In some cases the FTTX deployment is done with fiber and copper for the last section.
In today's FTTX deployments, a critical step is to physically access the building or premises of the subscribers, such as individual houses, apartments or multi-dwelling units (MDUs). Such physical access includes, but is not limited to, a technician entering the subscriber's premises, drilling holes through building walls, installing and commissioning the fibers and hardware inside the premises, and so forth. The terms “building” and “premise” are used interchangeably in this disclosure to connote a building having end-user devices on a passive optical network (PON) for single family unit (SFU), multiple-family unit (MFU) or other service delivery of voice, data, video, etc., services.
One of the challenges in FTTX deployments is the fiber deployment. There are many cases in which gaining physical access to the home or office building with fiber is a challenge, especially in existing MDUs (Multiple Dwelling Units) or large office buildings. Without such physical access, the installers cannot deploy or maintain the physical infrastructure and enable the service subscription. The need for physical access to the installation premises can be a major impediment due to the fact that such physical access may involve multiple site access authorizations (from apartment owners, building owners, etc.) since it is not possible to access all units of the building at once, and multiple visits to the building by the service provider is required. It also requires more labor and is more costly for the service provider to physically install the infrastructure, and results in inconvenience and disturbance to the daily life of the subscribers. As a result, such physical access to the premises can lead to a higher cost of deployment, less customer satisfaction, a slower deployment process, and the like, which may make a FTTX deployment too expensive in light of other alternatives. In some cases, gaining access can be the primary concern that inhibits the whole service deployment.
Thus, it may be beneficial to have a better way to improve the distribution and installation of high-speed communications to consumers in a variety of homes, businesses and premises.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of any cited documents.